In an effort to close a $4 billion budget cap, the North Carolina House has proposed an increase in college tuition by eight percent, or $200, per student.
This proposal overrides a previous decision made in February by UNC Board of Governors, to increase tuition by four percent. It also makes it more difficult for some students enrolled in the University of North Carolina system to pay for school because it prevents some students from receiving any new financial aid.
WCU Senior Brian Walton, a WCU senior, expresses, “What can we do? School becomes more and more expensive every year. It stinks but that’s how it is.”
An increase of eight percent would mean that tuition would go from $2504.25 to $2704.59 this fall for in state WCU undergraduate students. Graduate students would see their tuition increase from $2544.25 to $2747.79.
Pending any unforeseen changes, bills for the fall semester are set to be posted during the second week in July. Some financial aid awards have already been made.
Walton, a Criminal Justice major, continues to say that “It would be one thing if this tuition increase was going to benefit the University but it isn’t going to do anything for us. I don’t think that we should be responsible for closing a gap in the budget.”
Currently, there are over 202,000 students enrolled in the UNC system, giving North Carolina over $40 million dollars to help ease budget pains with the tuition hike.
